Vote on new I.S. 653 (in B15 building) at meeting Tuesday. School Construction Authority finally estimates September 2024 opening.

As I wrote (link), there was a low-key public hearing Jan. 22 for the proposed re-siting of two schools to what was once expected to be I.S. 653, the school at the base of 662 Pacific Street (aka B15), with the school address 491 Dean Street.

The Department of Education (DOE) now sees the 806-seat K653 it as not just a solution to a small, crowded existing intermediate school (M.S. 915; Bridges: a School of Exploration and Equity) in Downtown Brooklyn, but more so the permanent home of the new Design Works High School, which for its launch was temporarily sited into a Downtown Brooklyn space intended for an elementary school.

That move, which would also include space for a small program for middle-school students with special needs, would happen in September 2024, assuming approval by schools officials. And that seems on its way.

Vote Tuesday

The changes are likely to be approved Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) meeting at 6 p.m. at Prospect Heights Educational Campus, at 883 Classon Avenue. Online access to the meeting will open up at 5:30 pm. Speaker sign-up in-person will run from 5:30 to 6:30 pm.

The PEP will consider eight proposals regarding Brooklyn schools, with two of them part of the 491 Dean building. In its January meeting, the PEP unanimously approved all four proposals it was considering.

All comments received by at by 6 pm on Monday Feb. 26--24 hours before the meeting--will be included in the Public Comment Analysis, to be made available on the DOE website (presumably here?) after 6 pm on Feb. 26.

Timing question

I recently checked the School Construction Authority's latest Capital Plan updates.

If you start here, looking at the Quarterly Status of Projects in Process, the associated document, for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2023, oddly suggests that the planned completion date is Sept. 3, 2025, as shown in the screenshot below.

But the schools mentioned above are supposed to move to the new building this September. 

Indeed, the SCA's Five-Year Capital Plan page links to the FY 2025-2029 Proposed Five-Year Capital Plan, dated February 2024, which cites I.S. 653 as one of several schools opening this year.